Drips & Drabs
by Franklet
Summary: A motley collection of short stories, all taken from various prompt challenges. All will be Lily/James.
1. Hopelessly Devoted To You

_100 Songs _

_Prompt001: Hopelessly Devoted To You - Olivia Newton-John_

_

* * *

_

"Oi. Prongs. Don't mope about like a girl."

James gave Sirius the finger and sunk lower into the couch.

"Really mate. Tell me you're not going to be doing this all night."

When James didn't answer Sirius let out a sound of disgust. "Oh come on. It's only the one hundredth time the girl's shot you down. Just get over it and come to the kitchens with me."

"I don't feel like it." James muttered.

Sirius rolled his eyes and sat next to James on the couch. "You're really going to scowl darkly into the fireplace for the rest of the night?"

James grunted in response.

"You are the biggest wanker." Sirius said, exasperated. "How long have you fancied Evans? Don't answer." Sirius held up his hand and James closed his mouth. "It was a rhetorical question. If I really wanted to know I'd go check out your Evans Shrine."

"I don't have an Evans Shrine!" James protested, transferring his glare from the fireplace to his best mate.

"What would you call the corner of the dorm where you've collected every thing that Evans has ever given you? Including her History of Magic notes from Second Year?" Sirius raised his eyebrows when James did nothing but blush in response. "You've fancied her for years. It's getting a little pathetic mate." He paused. "More than a little pathetic. Epically pathetic. Evans has never given you the time of day, let alone a chance to go out on a date. Just move on already."

"I don't want to." James snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know for a fact that Gertrude Gunderson thinks you're fit. And I also know for a fact that Gertrude Gunderson won't say no to a visit to the Astronomy Tower, if you get what I'm saying." Sirius nudged James and winked. "It'll be good for you mate. Get your mind off Evans. I can't remember the last time you went out with a bird and had a good time."

"Sirius I just told you I don't want to see another girl. Lay off!"

"So what?" Sirius' eyes flashed angrily. "You're going to sit around like a fool and wait for a girl who's never going to be interested in you? How long is this going to last huh? Until the end of the year? After graduation? Are you going be forty years old and still sitting around hoping Lily bloody Evans finally realises that you're "the one" for her?"

Sirius expected an explosion from his mate. They'd had this conversation countless times over the past four years and it had always ended with James storming off in a huff and Sirius prepared to hex the next person that looked at him wrong.

Instead of telling Sirius that he'd never understand, that it didn't matter what foul name Lily had just called him, he knew that she would come around eventually, James closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"I know mate."

Sirius blinked. That was…not expected.

"Every time this happens I tell myself, 'James - get over her. She's not worth it.' But…I can't. Because it's a lie. She is worth it." A soft smile appeared. "She's beautiful and sexy and clever and bloody feisty."

Sirius snorted. Feisty was not the word he would have chosen. Raging cow was closer to what he was thinking.

"Every girl I meet I compare to her and they never measure up. She _is _the one, I know it Padfoot." James thumped his chest over his heart. "I know it here. Understand?"

Sirius nodded slowly. "I think I do understand. What you're saying is…I have a vagina."

James' expression changed from hopeful to annoyed in seconds. "Piss off."

"No really." Sirius deadpanned. "You're a girl. A giant, skirt wearing girl. I get it now. Really, I do."

"I hate you." James muttered. "You're a complete bastard."

"Please don't write badly about me in your diary." Sirius clasped his hands together under his chin. "You aren't going to ask for my half of the Best Friends Forever necklace back are you?" He fluttered his eyelashes.

"Shove it Sirius."

* * *

A/N: So…I know that I should be working on IWTHYH but I have a severe case of writers block. I'm hoping that writing one of these a day will help me get back into the groove so I can finish up the next chapter :) This is an unofficial attempt at hp_100songs over at LJ, but I'm not signing up or anything…this is more of an exercise for me than a challenge. None of them will be beta'd and they'll all be written in a couple hours, so they won't be anything special. I wasn't even going to post them, but a friend told me to post them anyway because someone might enjoy them so…I hope someone enjoys them!


	2. Just Friends

_Prompt 002: Just Friends - Gavin DeGraw _

"Tell her Prongs!" Sirius hissed, glaring at a small red headed girl by the fireplace.

"She can't do that to you!" Peter agreed vehemently. "You're _James Potter._ You're the coolest wizard in Hogwarts. Who even knows who that other guy is?"

"Michael Clearwater." Remus said, rolling his eyes.

The four boys were huddled around their usual table, whispering to each other. Three of them were shooting dirty looks towards Lily Evans and Alice Williams who were blissfully unaware of the revenge being plotted metres away. Remus was resisting the urge to smack them over the head with one of his textbooks.

"Michael _Stinky_water is more like it." Peter sneered.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Sirius clapped his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Wormy. That was…"

"I've heard five year olds insult better." James took a break from scowling at Lily to join in on the teasing.

"I've heard _Remus_ insult people better than that."

"Oh yeah, what did he call us yesterday?"

"Humungous tossers wasn't it?"

"No that's not quite it." James mused, tapping his chin with his finger. "Daft cretins?"

"Piss off you wankers." Remus muttered, bright red from embarrassment.

"Oooooh!" Sirius and James mocked.

"Do my ears deceive me?" James cupped a hand around an ear. "Did Moony actually swear?"

"I wouldn't really classify piss off as swearing though Prongs, should it count?"

"Shouldn't we be concentrating on how Prongs has been tossed over for Michael _Stinkywater_?" Remus said desperately. If he let those two continue in their current vein they would soon end up asking the entire Common Room to participate in a public vote over whether "piss off" was really swearing anymore.

James cut off mid sentence and flushed. "I wasn't tossed over! They're just friends."

Peter started sniggering.

Remus gave James a pitying look. "Is that what Lily told you?"

"Yes!" James said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I asked her about the wanker last week and she said they were just friends."

"I wasn't aware friends ran their fingers through other friend's hair…"

James spluttered indignantly as his mates all burst into laughter.

"Right." James leapt to his feet. "I'm going over to confront her."

This only made the boys laugh harder.

"Prongs," Remus managed to gasp out between laughs. "Prongs, I don't think that's a great idea…"

But James could not be deterred and marched over to the two girls. They were flicking through a magazine together, pointing and laughing at something on the page. "Lily!"

Lily jumped a little and turned to look at the boy looming over her. Alice took one look at James' expression and started to giggle.

"I thought you said Michael was just your friend!"

The inquiring smile slid from the girls face and she suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Well…we're not _dating_ Potter…"

"I saw you!" James said in a strangled tone. "He was running his hand through your hair and you were _touching him on his stupid chest_."

Lily's expression instantly darkened. "Were you following me Potter?"

"What?" James yelped. "No, I was on my way to the library and -"

"I can't believe this!" Lily snapped, glaring. "You were spying on me? What kind of creep does that? I have half a mind to report you to Professor McGonagall."

"I wasn't spying on you for Merlin's sake woman! It's not my fault you and your boyfriend were snogging in public."

James knew that was a mistake when Lily whipped out her wand and pointed it at James' face. "You have 30 seconds to disappear Potter."

"Ah Evans…" James said nervously. "You know 3rd Years aren't allowed to do magic in the Common Room…"

"That's rubbish." Lily jabbed her wand towards him and James took a small step back. "You now have 20 seconds."

"Look, all right, all right." James held up his hands in surrender and gave her his most charming smile, the one that always worked on his mother. "I'm sorry ok? If you promise that you'll only go out with me from now on I'll forgive you for-" James last words were drowned out by Lily's enraged shriek.

"POTTER I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF MY SIGHT THIS INSTANT I WILL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"

James wisely fled.

A/N: I've never heard of this song before and when I read the lyrics I quickly realised it was yet another angsty song. So I decided that I wasn't in the mood for angst and instead bought out youngcocky!James. Hope you guys enjoyed it :)


	3. Bananas

"You should know that I hate you."

"That's nice Lily. Please continue"

Lily sent James her darkest scowl and, scrunching up her face in distaste, raised her trembling hand towards her mouth. She opened her mouth slowly, took a deep breath and -

"No!" She exclaimed, dropping the offending object on the table. "I can't do it."

James sat back in his chair with a smug smile, clearly enjoying himself. All around them the crowd ooooh'd in anticipation and Sirius Black, standing behind James, let out a bark of laughter.

"Evans, Evans, Evans." He shook his head slowly, eyes dancing with glee. "If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think you _wanted_ to lose this bet."

Lily spluttered, folding her arms over her chest. She most certainly did _not_ want to lose this bet. Not only was the stupid thing taking place in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room, where her humiliation, if she did fail would be seen by all, the outcome if she did lose was unacceptable.

"Think again Black." Lily spat, glaring at the boy. "I would rather die than lose this bet."

"You don't have to die." Peter, who had until now been watching silently, pointed out. "You just have to -"

"I know what I have to do!" Lily interrupted, transferring her glare to him. "I just don't want to - I don't know if I can…" She eyed the object suspiciously, as if she expected it to jump down her throat at any second.

"Surely it's not that hard Lily," Remus added. He sounded sympathetic, but the mischievous sparkle in his eyes gave him away. "Just take one little bite…chew…swallow…and you're done."

Lily glared at the four boys - James, sitting across from her at the table, looking supremely smug, Sirius, Peter and Remus, all standing around him, grinning at her cheekily. And around them, let's not forget, was what felt like the entire Gryffindor House, watching eagerly for the outcome of this little wager. A sudden thought hit her.

"Hang on! How did you lot even find out that I hate bananas? I was very careful to make sure you didn't find out about it for this very reason."

Sirius smirked and shook his hair out of his eyes. "Let's just say that _your _friends don't show quite as much loyalty to you as you think they do."

Lily's eyes narrowed. She should have known. "Alice!" She spun around to glare at her best mate, who suddenly looked very guilty. "What?"

Alice shrugged and couldn't quite keep the smile off her face. "I'm sorry Lilykins, but it's for your own good you know. Just admit that you can't eat the banana and snog James for all he's worth. There's no point fighting the attraction anymore."

The crowd around them crowed in delight and someone in the very back wolf whistled. Lily's mouth dropped open and she stared at Alice in shock. Not that she should be shocked, that is. In the seven years that she and Alice had been friends, Alice had never shied away from putting Lily in what Lily called terrifying and humiliating moments to be burnt from her memory and what Alice called formative moments in her development as a person. This, Lily thought furiously, was most definitely part of Alice's scheme to get herself and James together.

"There's no attraction." Lily said through gritted teeth. Alice rolled her eyes and gave her mate a pointed look. "There's not!" She turned around to face James again, glaring at him. "There's not Potter, so wipe that stupid smirk off your face!"

James looked startled and held both his hands up. "I had nothing to do with this. It was all Sirius' idea."

"And Alice's!" Sirius added when Lily transferred her glare to him. "We're sick of the sexual tension between you too. I hate you Potter!" Sirius said in a squeaky voice, obviously a terrible attempt at mimicking her voice. "Stay away from me! Why are you such a slimey git? Why are you talking to Chastity Clements and not me? Why won't you kiss me?" He started making kissing noises amidst laughter from the crowd. "It's ridiculous. Go have a shag in a broom closet already and get it over and done with."

Lily couldn't help but notice that James was shooting Sirius an annoyed glare at his little pronouncement. Well, she didn't blame him. She too knew what it was like to have a meddling, terrible best mate. He looked kind of cute when he was annoyed. Something inside of Lily when _ping_ and she made a split second decision.

"Fine." She sighed dramatically, getting to her feet. "Come here Potter."

James looked wary. "Why?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Why else you tosser? You're right. I can't eat that…thing…so I suppose I am going to have to kiss - I mean let you kiss me."

There was dead silence for only a few moments before the group around them erupted into cheers and claps. Sirius let out a whoop and clapped James on the back.

"I knew you'd give in eventually Evans." He crowed, high fiving a surprised Remus. "Who can resist my man Prongs here?"

Lily wasn't interested in Sirius' whoops, Remus' surprise or Alice's shrieks of delight. She was taking careful note of the expression on James' face. He was still seated, staring at her with his mouth wide open, a slightly stunned expression on his face.

"Wha..?" He managed to get out before Lily harrumphed impatiently.

"Well you hurry up and get over here Potter before I change my mind?" Lily rolled her eyes and tried to stop smiling when James blinked and stood to his feet, looking very dazed.

"I can't believe this worked." Remus muttered to Sirius, watching incredulously as James made his way over to a very impatient looking Lily.

"To be honest," Sirius admitted, "neither can I. I thought she'd force that banana down her throat - MERLIN SHE'S ACTUALLY LETTING HIM KISS HER!" Sirius interrupted himself with a shout of delight and burst into laughter at James swept Lily up into his arms and started snogging her. "This is too good to be true." He chortled, rubbing his hands together. "Who would have thought that Lily Evans would ever - oh."

Once again, dead silence fell over the Common Room as Lily, one arm still wrapped around James' neck, very carefully smushed the banana that had recently been sitting on the table into James' hair. She pulled away with a triumphant smirk as James frantically tried to brush the mush out of his hair.

Remus snorted. "I told you this wouldn't work."

A/N: Hello peeps! I know, I know it's been forever and I'm super sorry, but I just ran out of creative juice! I also know I should be working on I Want To Hold Your Hand, but…it's just not coming out of me right now! It's still in the pipeline though, so don't worry about it!

This is just a short little story to get myself going again…unedited and unbetad, written very quickly at work. Hope you guys enjoy it

Taken from a prompt table that I'll be using quite a bit I think, I'm really enjoying it so far – the prompt was…banana!


	4. Bread

Sirius flung the door to the boy's dorm open and pranced in, slamming it shut behind him.

"Proooooooooongs. I have a brilliant idea for our next prank. You, me, Mrs. Norris and some…what the bloody hell?"

James stood in the centre of the room, a hairbrush in one hand, the other clenched over his heart. He was swaying slowly to the music that was pumping out from Marlene's old Muggle record player, totally oblivious to the fact that his best mate had just waltzed in on him.

Sirius watched in horror as the music started to build back to the chorus and James, opening his mouth wide, belted out;

"That I'm lost without your love! Life without you isn't worth the trouble of, I'm as helpless as a ship without a wheel…"

Sirius had thought that this scene couldn't possibly get any worse, but to his utmost disgust James unclenched the hand over his chest and gazed longingly at the picture of Lily _bloody _Evans that had been hiding in there.

With a flick of his wand Sirius Silenced the music and folded his arms over his chest. "What. The. Bloody. Hell?"

James spun around, face draining of all colour. "Padfoot!" He stammered, eyes darting around for an escape. "What are you doing?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What am _I _doing? What are _you_ doing? What the hell were you listening to you wanker? Where did you even get that rubbish from? And why in Merlin's name were you _singing along to it_?"

"Lil- Evans, she was bitch to me again and I came up here so I could calm down and not hex her…" James trailed off when he realised Sirius wasn't buying any of it. "What does it matter?" James snapped, trying a different tactic. "You're not my Mum; I can do whatever I want."

Sirius gazed at James, expression carefully blank. "Your manhood…is dead." He eventually said, shaking his head. "What kind of self respecting bloke moons around singing to Bread? I…I can't even look at you right now."

And with that Sirius spun on his heel and left the room.

James stood in the centre of the room, mortified that he'd been caught by the last (ok well the second last…if Lily had seen him doing that…) person he'd want to know. "Hang on!" James shouted suddenly, wrenching the door open and chasing after his mate. "How did you know that was Bread?"

A/N:

So the prompt for this one was death and I dunno what came over me, but I didn't want to do some depressing story!

You guys should totally check out Lost Without Your Love by Bread, it's a terrible terrible song…so terrible it's awesome!

Once again, unedited and unbeta'd, written rather quickly at work. Hope you guys enjoy


	5. Lousy Best Mates

James hurried after Lily, trying to juggle his book bag, cloak and the giant stack of parchment Dumbledore had handed them. "Lily, wait!" He called out. "Slow down for a minute will you?"

Lily let out an irritated sigh and slowed down marginally. "What?"

"Why are you so pissed off at me?" James snapped, tired of being sniped at and glared at and sighed at for no reason. "I've done nothing wrong!"

Lily glared at him for a few more seconds before her face relaxed into a smile. "You're absolutely right. I'm sorry."

James blinked. Girls were so mental. "Er…"

"I was a bit shocked to find out you were Heard Boy of course," Lily explained earnestly, tucking her hair behind her ears. "And my sister told me she was getting married as I was getting out of the car, so I suppose I was a tad bit annoyed already…anyway, I shouldn't be so terse with you. Let's head back to the dorms friends shall we?" She beamed at him.

James blinked again. "Er…all right…"

"Brilliant!"

Lily spun on her heels and set off at a slightly slower pace towards the Gryffindor Tower. James followed, still trying to work out what had just happened.

There were a few moments of companionable silence before James cleared his throat. "Um…Lily. Aren't we going in the wrong direction?"

Lily frowned. "No…Gryffindor Tower is this way."

"Right." James fell silent. "It's just that," he continued after a short pause, "I thought the Heads Dorm would be somewhere else, not in Gryffindor Tower."

Lily stopped so suddenly that James walked into her, sending parchment flying. "The Heads _what_?" She demanded, turning to face him.

"The…Heads Dormitory." James repeated a little less certainly. "You know…we get our own bedrooms and private Common Room…"

Lily gazed at him incredulously. "Are you out of your _mind _Potter? A shared dorm? This is a _school_ not the…not the set of your depraved fantasies! In what dream world would Professor Dumbledore _ever _let a boy and girl share a dorm room together?"

"I dunno, I guess I just thought that -"

"Thought what? That you and I could spend our nights having wild sex on the couch in our _private lair_?" Lily narrowed her eyes at him, arms folded across her chest.

James spluttered incoherently at that, his mind instantly filled with images of him and Lily having wild sex on a couch. "NO!" He managed to get out eventually and Lily raised her eyebrows.

"You're a terrible liar." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not going to ask what's wrong with you or what mental thoughts go through your head…I suppose I should be used to it by now…but I wanted to let you know…you're a tosser."

With that she turned on her heels and strode away, shoulders shaking with what James suspected to be laughter. When she disappeared around the corner he heard what was the unmistakable sound of Lily Evans laughing hysterically.

"I'm going to kill Sirius." James muttered.

* * *

A/N: Just something small that I've had floating around for ages...thought it was about time I uploaded it :) Inspired by all the times I see the infamous "Heads Dorms" in which Lily & James share a dorm that has connecting bedrooms or connecting bathrooms or some thing equally as unlikely - of course that isn't to say that I don't enjoy fics that feature said dorm, more that I just think it's terribly unlikely!

Hope you enjoy!

p.s next chapter of IWTHYH should be coming soon, I almost finished it and then realised I hated everything I'd written and had to start again! Sorry xx


	6. Choices

"Evans?"

Lily looked up from the book she had been reading and frowned. Three people stood in front of her, their faces obscured by the sunlight blinding her eyes. "Yes?" She answered warily, tilting her head to the side, trying to get a proper look at who was talking to her. "Can I help you?"

"It's not a Wizarding name, is it?" The tone was slightly amused, mostly disparaging.

Curiosity turned into anger. Of course. Never mind that she had been Head Girl. Never mind that she had received near perfect marks in her NEWTS. Never mind that she had been a beloved member of the Slug Club, president of the Charms Club and had been the first in their year to Apparate successfully.

"No," she snapped, "it's not. It's a common, plain as day, perfectly _Muggle _name and Irish to boot. I don't mean to be rude, but if you're about to start nattering on about blood purity and how I shouldn't be allowed to set foot in the Alley, I'm not interested." She started gathering her things together. So much for a peaceful day in Diagon Alley.

"I would stay, if I were you. I think you'll find it prudent to listen to what we have to say." This voice was achingly familiar.

She froze, hand hovering over her bag. "Sev?"

One of the dark figures stepped forward, blocking the glare from the sun, his face sliding into view. Beside him Lily recognised Avery and a tall man with pale hair that she knew from the Daily Prophet, suspected of colluded with the Death Eaters, but impossible to pin proof to. He had been a few years ahead of her in Hogwarts, and his name escaped her now. The old crowd then, Lily thought sadly.

"Lily." He inclined his head in a slight nod, expressionless. His eyes, the same eyes that she used to stare into over Potions textbooks, the same eyes that used to meet hers, crinkled with laughter, when Slughorn was being particularly obnoxious, the same dark eyes she had known since she was a little girl, met hers and she saw the warning in them.

"Severus is correct, Lily Evans. It would be very prudent indeed of you to listen." Avery spoke this time. If she had been inclined to look towards him, she would have been unsettled by the way he was eyeing her, but she couldn't take her eyes off Severus. She hadn't seen him since Hogwarts, almost two months ago, hadn't spoken to him for longer, and seeing him again, seeing him unexpectedly and with _these _people was like a punch to the gut. She had always hoped, deep down, that he would make the right choice in the end.

"All right." She said slowly, though she wasn't sure what they could possibly have to say to her that wasn't slurs against her blood. If they were here to tell her they would try to kill her one day, well she already knew that. She had known that for many years now.

It is because she is staring straight at him that she notices the slight loosening of Severus' shoulders, the faint relief in his eyes. It's infinitesimal, this small release, but she knows him. Knew him.

Now the older man steps forward, hands folded behind his back. He never quite meets her gaze, which has shifted from Severus, and instead chooses to look somewhere slightly above her head. In anyone else she would think it was nerves or shame. She knows better.

"I shall be direct with you, Miss Evans. Your talents have not gone unnoticed. Severus tells us that you are adept with Charms and Potions and we think you could be…useful in our endeavors. The Dark Lord wishes you to join Him and has sent us to extend this offer."

There was a brief silence in which the distant sounds of children laughing could be heard, the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley drifting through the hot summer's air, and then it was broken by laughter. By loud, unrestrained, disbelieving laughter.

Severus closed his eyes.

Lily continued to laugh, wiping at her eyes when the tears started to fall. "I'm sorry," she spluttered, "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to be rude." The complete absurdity of the situation - she, a Muggle-born, being asked to join the Voldemort by her childhood best friend - was too much. It was either laugh or cry, and Lily found that she didn't much like the idea of crying in front of these monsters. "Did you really think that I would _agree_? You lot want me dead, or have you forgotten about that? I'm a Mudblood, remember? I'm not even supposed to have a wand, let alone be tainting other Wizards with my very existence."

The man smirked. "Quite right, Miss Evans. However the Dark Lord is willing to overlook the uh…issue…of your blood as a favour for Severus." Lily's eyes darted to Severus, who was watching her intently. "The Dark Lord is gracious, Miss Evans, but He is not patient. You will accept this offer, now, or you will die with the rest of your kind."

Lily felt the hysterical laughter bubbling up inside of her again. It was like something out of a movie, a terrible, cheesy movie from the 1960's. Only, it was a movie turned upside down. Good people died in horrible ways, the bad guys got away with it, there was no young, handsome hero ready to save the day. She couldn't turn this movie off if she didn't like the ending.

"Lily." Severus spoke, his voice low and urgent. "Think carefully about this. You'll only have one chance."

She looked at him, really looked at him, noticing the dark circles under his eyes, the lank hair, the scratches on his hand, the old ink stains on his fingers. She looked at him for the first time in a long time and realised that he was no longer Sev, the little boy that would wait for her at the park and talk to her about Hogwarts and all the amazing things they would do there. He was no longer Sev, her best friend, who would listen to her babble about her new favourite book for hours on end. Somewhere along the line she had lost that little boy, her best mate, her confidant. He had been replaced with the person standing before her.

"What would happen to James?" She asked quietly, and Severus flinched at the name, his lip curling in hatred. "What would happen to my family? To Petty? What about Mary and Greta and Edward? You remember Edward don't you Severus? He's a Muggle-born, like me. We used to tutor him in Potions. What would happen to him? Why should I be spared and no one else? How could I turn my back on them? How could I join you, knowing that one day I would be facing them at the end of my wand, to kill them? How could you ask me to do that?"

"Because you are more important then they are." His eyes bored into hers, begging her to understand. "They are _nothing. _They are worthless. You are…you are everything, Lily, everything and I would do anything...say anything…anything to keep you with me."

She dropped her gaze. She had come to Diagon Alley by herself, wandering past the shops, pretending that she was going to Hogwarts one last time. It was easy to pretend, for only a moment, that she would soon be on her way back to the school, where she knew she was safe, where the reality of the war hadn't set in yet. At Hogwarts she could still convince herself that everything would be ok, for just a little bit longer. Instead, here she was, Death Eaters in front of her, asking her to join them.

"I'm not better then anyone." She looked straight into Severus' eyes when she said this, resolve hardening. "My life is not worth more then anyone else's. I won't do it Severus."

"You would rather die then?"

"I would rather die fighting to protect what I believe in then live by betraying my friends."

"That reeks of Potter's special brand of noble stupidity." Severus spat, eyes glittering with hatred.

Lily lifted her chin proudly. "Yes, it does."

"There was a time," his voice was uneven, cheeks flushed, "when you would have chosen me over him."

"You made your own choice long ago Sev." Lily replied quietly. "You chose the wrong side and I can't follow you."

"Can't or won't Lily?"

She hesitated only for a moment. "I won't."

His eyes fluttered shut, the colour draining from his face. When he stepped away from her, all emotion had been wiped from his face. And though, only a moment ago, he had been Sev, and she had known him, now a dark haired stranger stared at her.

"That is your answer?" The blonde man demanded, lips curling into a satisfied smile. "Very well. I can't say I'm disappointed."

He began to draw his wand, but before he had the chance Lily whipped out her own wand, never far from her hand nowadays, and shouted a spell.

There was a loud bang and the air was filled with dust and dirt. The men started yelling and coughing and Lily leapt to her feet, sprinting down the Alley before they could clear the debris and follow.

She rounded a corner, ignoring the startled gasp of a woman she barreled into and Apparated home with a faint pop.

_When she was nine years old, she made a choice to leave her sister behind and follow the strange dark haired boy back to the park. There they had sat, in the dusty grass, talking in low voices about a magical school filled with ghosts ands beasts and wonder. _

_When she was eleven, she had chosen to leave her housemates behind and followed her friend, Sev, through the corridors, choosing to sit with him in classes, heads close together as they poured over magical theory. He showed her everything his mother had taught him about Potions, about spell theory. He taught her everything she knew about the magical world and its quirks. They explored Hogwarts together on rainy days, intentionally losing themselves in long, dimly lit corridors, trailing their hands along dusty walls and tapestries. _

_When she was thirteen, she had chosen to leave her misgivings behind and believed Sev's insistence that he didn't _mean _to hurt him, he had no idea that the spell would cause so much damage, how could he have? If he had truly known the spells power, would he have used it? She ignored the small voice that whispered yes, ignored the heaviness in her heart that noticed the pleasure in his eyes, the way he caressed the spell books with a twisted love. She ignored because she loved him and that was enough. _

_When she was fifteen, she had chosen to walk away from him and follow her instincts, all the way back to her bed, where she had cried until her pillow was soaked through and her head ached. She had lost her best friend to the Dark Arts and to power, she wailed to Mary, she hadn't been good enough to keep him safe. She'd failed him. Why didn't he love her the same way she loved him? She was too young to know that he did love her, as much as any fifteen year old boy can love someone, but not as much as he loved being in control. She was too young to know that she didn't love him nearly as intensely as she thought she did, only as much as any fifteen year old girl loves her best friend. She was too young to know that broken hearts don't last forever. _

_When she was seventeen she had chosen to say yes and follow her heart. She had learnt that sometimes you had to let go, that you couldn't always save everyone. She had learnt, as one of her favourite Muggle bands sang, that you can't always get what you want. Sev wasn't going to come back to her, she couldn't fix it this time. He wouldn't let her anymore. So she had said yes, after two years of saying no. She and James had a lovely time at Hogsmeade. He made her laugh like no one had ever done before, loud belly laughs that brought tears to her eyes and turned her face red. James would always smile when she laughed like this because, to him, it was when she was the most beautiful._

_When she was almost eighteen she had chosen to say no and follow her convictions. She saw her oldest friend, once her dearest friend, for the last time and though the words weren't spoken, they both knew it was good bye. _

_Three years later Lily Potter would choose to lay down her life for her only son. _

_Three years later Severus Snape would make the right choice too late. _

_**A/N: And then he made all the wrong choices again by deciding to be an unforgiving twat and pick on innocent First Years for no real reason...ahh Severus Snape. You are one of my favourite characters because you're so flipping flawed. **_

**Just another story I've had floating around for a while. **_  
_


	7. Smoke Trails

He finds her in an unused classroom on the fourth floor, knees drawn up against her chest. There's a cigarette in her hand and she's taken a deep drag just before he slips in. She turns towards the door and her eyes widen a fraction before she lets the smoke out in one, smooth, slow breath.

"Potter."

"Evans."

He's surprised, to say the least. Not only is she out after curfew, her robes are nowhere to be seen, she's loosened her tie, undone the top three buttons of her blouse and she's smoking a fag like she's done it all her life.

He hesitates before taking a seat next to her, careful to leave some space between them. He's surprised again when she doesn't protest. Now that he's closer he can see that her eyes are bloodshot, rimmed with black where her mascara has smudged. Her gaze flickers to his and she takes another drag.

"I didn't know you smoked." His voice fills the empty classroom, bouncing of the walls and he winces.

"Filthy habit." She says flippantly, tapping the butt gently, ash floating to classroom floor. "Picked it up from Dad."

He nods and they both stare at the wall across from them, silence falling over them.

She offers him the last drag, eyebrow raised. He shakes his head. "I only smoke when I'm pissed."

"Fair enough," she says with a shrug, "I only smoke when I'm sad." She finishes the fag with one long, puff and expels it with her eyes closed, tilting her head back. Her hair spills over her shoulder, blindingly red against the white of her throat.

He's fascinated by the shadows dancing across her skin, the way her throat constricts as she swallows.

The smoke curls into the air above her and dissipates.

"Are you sad often?"

She doesn't answer at first. She instead concentrates on twisting the butt of her cigarette into the stone floor, dusting her hands off on her skirt and sighing. "I suppose." She lets her head fall back against the wall. "More and more every day."

Their eyes meet and he swallows. "Did you want to talk about it?"

"No."

They fall into silence together, backs pressed against the cold stone, he playing nervously with his tie, his shirt sleeves, the bit of scrap parchment left behind from an unknown student. She is still, the only indication that she's not turned to stone the steady rise and fall of her chest.

"My sister got married on the weekend."

Her voice is quiet, strained. It startles him and he almost jumps but manages to catch himself at the last minute.

"Oh." In normal circumstances he would offer his congratulations, but the expression on her face leads him to believe it should be condolences.

"She sent me a letter to tell me. Her only sister." Her voice hitches at this and he glances at her, but her eyes are dry. She shakes her head softly. "Now that she's _married, _she's selling the house. She doesn't need it anymore you see."

James frowned. "But where will you stay over the holidays?"

She lets out a bitter laugh. "Not with her and her new husband, thank you very much. She was very clear about that." She takes out another cigarette and lights with a flick of her wand. He's impressed despite himself. The last time he'd tried that, he'd almost blown his face up. "At Hogwarts I suppose."

"That won't be too bad." He forces himself to be cheerful. "Sirius and I stayed here one year when my parents were away overseas. It's loads of fun, you have the Common Room to yourself and they go all out on the decorations."

She gives him a halfhearted smile and puffs away at her smoke. He feels like an idiot.

"I miss them." She says this so softly he almost doesn't hear her, but he hears the catch in her throat. "It's the first Christmas without them and I had hoped that Tuney would…I just…" She swipes angrily at the tear rolling down her check and huffs. She refuses to meet his worried stare and closes her eyes. "I don't want to be alone."

His instinct is to wrap his arms around her shoulders and pull her into him, cradle her head against his chest and tell her she's not alone. He knows that's not what she needs. She wouldn't let him anyhow.

Instead, he leans over and slides a fag out of the packet, carefully lighting it and leans back against the wall. He ignores her startled expression and mimics her earlier actions, taking a deep drag, letting the smoke slowly leak out of his mouth.

"I thought you only smoked when you were pissed." Her eyes are bright, curious, soft.

He shrugs, a gentle roll of his shoulders, and his head lolls back. He meets her gaze, lips quirking up in a half smile. "I smoke when I'm sad too."

She's confused for only a moment and then she smiles softly before turning away from him.

They finish her packet together in silence.

**A/N: I know, I know I'm an awful human being who never updates. I just started studying online and it's eaten up any spare time I might have – not to mention that I have a terrible writers block when it comes to IWTHYH, but I have about a million little one shot ideas running around in my head. Here's a little something to tide you over, more will be coming rather quickly, I can't stop writing short stories! Hope you enjoy xx**


	8. Strong

"No."

Lily pauses in packing her backpack, an incredulous expression on her face. "Pardon me?"

"No."

James is standing at the doorway, filling it with his lanky frame. His face is stony, his eyes hard behind his glasses.

"No? No as in what James?" She spins to face him fully, hands on her hips. "No, I shouldn't be packing a backpack? No, I don't need to take that many pairs of knickers?"

"No, as in there is no way in bloody hell that you are coming with us."

Lily's mouth tightens and her cheeks flush with red. He's never seen her look so furious, so blazingly alive. "You fucking wanker. You heard Dumbledore. Every man is needed for this mission."

"Every _man_, Lily." Her mouth thins even further at this, eyes glittering with indignation. "You're not going."

"You are a condescending prick. How dare you. You don't _own _me Potter." She storms over to the chest of drawers and rips it open, rifling through the clothes blindly.

"You're not going Lily." Now James is moving into their bedroom, striding towards her backpack. "You'll be a liability."

"I got an O in my Defense NEWT, thank you very much." She's throwing various items onto the bed now, shoulders shaking. "I beat you if I remember correctly."

James throws back his head and laughs. "This isn't _school_ Lily. You think a Death Eater is going to pause and give you marks on your wand movement? Don't be daft."

"I'm not staying here."

"You're not coming with us."

For every piece of clothing Lily chucks onto the bed, James removes one from her backpack and discards it onto the floor.

"Why not?" She turns to face him, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"I'm not discussing this with you – "

"Why the fuck not?" She shouts, glaring at him. "Is it because I'm a girl?"

"No, I'm – "

"Afraid I'm going to break down into tears at the first sign of danger?"

"NO! You're– "

"I'm ten times the fighter Marline is and you didn't kick up a fuss when she went on mission last month!"

"I DON'T GIVE A RATS ARSE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO MARLENE!" James roars, startling Lily into momentary silence. "How am I supposed to fight when I know that you're there and you could possibly be getting KILLED any second? That at that very instant, you could be tortured? I couldn't. I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I'd be murdered within seconds and then you'd be gone too and how can I live with myself?"

For a second he thinks he's won. Her eyes soften but then she's glaring at him so ferociously that he takes a step back.

"Oh, poor baby. Do you think it's any easier for me?" Her voice is quiet, dangerous. "Do you think I enjoy sitting at home, waiting for you to come back? I pace up and down that room," she points to their lounge room, "thinking that you could be being murdered at that very instant and I'm at home and I can't do anything to help you. Do you think that's fun?"

"Fun?" James finds his voice. "_Fun_? Because battling five Death Eaters with only Sirius for back up sounds like your idea of fun? Watching children and women being ripped apart around you while you struggle just to survive sounds fun to you? At least when you're here you're safe and I don't have to worry about you."

"I'm not staying behind again." She rips a sweater out of his hands and shoves it back into her backpack, avoiding his furious gaze. "I can fight. I want to fight. We're a team James, we do things together."

James falls silent, watching her feverishly move around the room, picking things up and putting back down again. She's packed and repacked her bag three times before he speaks again.

"Lily, please."

She paused at the raw emotion in his voice and looked up, surprised.

"I can't – I couldn't stand it. If you died." He takes a deep, shuddering breath. "If you died and I was there and couldn't stop it. I – you're –"He's crying now and she moves towards him, tears welling in her own eyes. "You're the only – you're _everything_. I'm fighting – everyone thinks I'm fighting for the greater good and I am, but it's you. I'm fighting for you. What am I supposed to do if you're gone?" He whispers this last part and he sounds so broken, so sad that Lily feels her heart break.

"James," She wraps her arms around him, guiding his head to her shoulder. He buries his face into the soft crevice between her shoulder and neck, arms snaking around her waist, pulling her tight to him. "James, darling." Now he's sobbing, body shaking against hers, tears hot on her skin.

They hold each other until the tears subside, James clutching at her desperately. She's squeezing him as tight as she can, whispering soothing words into his hair, her own tears hot on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he croaks eventually, wiping at his eyes. "I'm supposed to be the strong one and I'm crying like a little girl."

Lily rolls her eyes and kisses him once, twice, three times and pushes his hair out of his eyes. "I can be strong too."

James laughs at this and he gazes at her with affection. "I know. I was being a prat."

"You were." She smiles softly at him.

"We're going to get married Lily Evans. We're going to have loads of little red headed babies who will wreak havoc on the world. But first we're going to take down Voldemort."

"Together." Lily agrees.

"Together."

**A/N: AAAAND another one…I'm not too happy with the ending, but no matter what I did it didn't work out and I just wanted to get it out of my drafts so I don't feel guilty about working on another story ;) **


End file.
